


Too Proud To Hide

by RageQuitShy



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Discovery, Fluff, Gay, Gay Character, Gay Newsies, M/M, One Shot, Pride, Pride Parades, Protests, Self-Discovery, Trans David Jacobs, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 08:29:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19225447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RageQuitShy/pseuds/RageQuitShy
Summary: Once again her eyes locked on the float and this time caught the eyes of a boy looking at her. He grinned cheekily and nodded his cap down to her. Curly brown hair could be seen under the hat and nice, warm chocolate eyes to match. Delilah smiled and gave a small wave before twisting her hair again. This all felt so right. She felt like she belonged in this parade. She didn't know why, but she did.





	Too Proud To Hide

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So I'm publishing on my phone and not able to make my own tags lol. But Davey is in a period of self-discovery in this fic. This is set at before he learns he's transgender, so dead names are used. She/her pronouns are also used.

Delilah stood there astounded by what she saw. Rainbows everywhere. Laughing, and music, and joy. She couldn't believe it. This had been sleeping under her nose this entire time? A community of people who banded together because they realized that loving someone isn't a crime. Being eighteen in Manhattan had it's perks, and getting to visit Pride for the first time was definitely one of them.

She grinned and twisted her hip length hair in her hands. Fortunately, she could see everything from where she was. Perks of being tall. Delilah's brown eyes skimmed over the floats until she caught one that made her breath stop. It was a cart jam packed with young teens from a LGBTQ+ study center called 'Newsies'. It was odd, choosing a name meant for paperboys from the 1800s, but their personalities seemed to fit the title just fine.

She couldn't help but walk the crowds to follow the cart. Once she reached the barrier for the side street, she had to stop. Protesters were trying to break through and her eyes widened. The police kept her back to avoid her becoming hurt and she nodded, before heading into the main part of the crowd.

Once again her eyes locked on the float and this time caught the eyes of a boy looking at her. He grinned cheekily and nodded his cap down to her. Curly brown hair could be seen under the hat and nice, warm chocolate eyes to match. Delilah smiled and gave a small wave before twisting her hair again. This all felt so right. She felt like she belonged in this parade. She didn't know why, but she did.

She walked along and cheered with everyone else, especially when couples began to make out. Delilah laughed and whooped and marched on, keeping pace with everyone else. A few people made their way through the crowds offering pins and small flags and things of that sort. A guy ran up to her, his boyfriend in toe.

"Hey! You, with the long hair! Yeah, you! Would you want this flag?" Delilah grinned and nodded, thanking the two and giving them quick hugs before saying their goodbyes. She added them on Snapchat and Instagram before trying to find the float again. With a large pride flag wrapped around her shoulders, she was sad to realize the end of the parade was near. With a sigh, she smiled and continued on until the last turn came up. 

Groups were dispersing and she grinned, an adrenaline high still in her system from the fun. As she was about to head to a small gift shop, someone called out for her. She swiveled around as she heard the shouting.

"You! Long hair! Yeah! Come 'ere!" The voice called out. She caught sight of a person running and her breath caught in her throat. It was the guy from the parade earlier. She smiled at him and nervously twisted her hair. She walked over to meet him and silently waited.

"So uh, I'se saw you earlier and uh... I was wonderin' if you wanted to get a coffee or something?" He asked, a blush rising to his cheeks and he bit his lip. Delilah bit back a grin but nodded and politely smiled.

"Lead the way," she said. Soon enough, they were in a crowded cafe. A coffee in both of their hands they quietly sipped. The guy cleared his throat and gave her a nervous smile.

"Well, I'm Mush. Of course that's not my real name, but that's what I go by. My pronouns are he/him. I'm pansexual. How about you?" Delilah's eyes widened at how Much said the information so fluidly. She cleared her throat as a blush rose up. 

"I-I'm Delilah. I'm a girl. And I don't know. I think I'm straight?" Se said, accidentally phrasing the end as a question. Mush just chuckled and nodded, taking another swig of his coffee.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Delilah. And it's okay not to know. You have your whole life to figure it out." Mush says, laying on the charm. Delilah rolled her eyes but nodded at the sound advice.

"Thanks," she said, "...Can you tell me more about the parade? What's pansexual? I really only know about gay, lesbian, and bi." She said sounding sheepish. But instead of looking down on her for the lack of information, Mush lit up.

"Of course! What do you want to know first? I guess we can start off with sexualities. The suffixes are a good place to start. Sexuality is a broad term for what you're attracted to. Some people are attracted to one, both, many, or none. And that's okay! But there's two different suffixes that can be applied to most sexualities. -Romantic obviously means it applies to the general romance. Dates, kissing, that sort of thing." Mush said, explaining with a spark of happiness in his eyes. Delilah nodded and focused with rapt attention. 

"-Sexual applies to the sexual side. Anything to do with sex, intercourse, or otherwise falls here. Now we can go to prefixes. Hetero is obviously straight. Homo is same sex, and is usually applied to men, but can be used for women too. Lesbian is the term we most often use for women who like other women. Bi is both. It doesn't necessarily have to only be two, but tends to stay by the two largest genders. Pan is what I am. Pan is a lot more broad than bi, but can somewhat fit under the same category, just with many more options. Ace can be short for aromantic or asexual, meaning none. Demi is a select few can make someone feel something." Mush explained, now adding hand motions to his speech. Delilah sat in wonder at all the things she was discovering. It wasn't like her parents were against it all that much or anything. In fact she'd say they're probably neutral on it. They just didn't teach it either.

"Now that's the main categories I can think of for sexuality. Let's move on to genders. First off, there's a difference between sex and gender for most people. Sex is what you were born with. Gender is what you are. So theres cisgender, where you are what you were born as. There's transgender, where you identify with the opposite gender. Agender is another one commonly referred to as ace. Genderfluid is when you can shift from day to day on how feminine or masculine you feel, but you identify with both. Nonbinary is a gender referred to often as they/them. I know there is many more for both categories, but that's what I can list off the top of my head. Did it help any?" Mush asked, finishing off his coffee. Delilah nodded with vigor and grinned. It felt great to have this new information on hand, about all these way to love other people. Sighing, she checked her phone to see a few hours have passed by. She wasn't ready to leave yet. She still had questions.

"Can you... Tell me a bit more about the transgender one?" She asked quietly. Putting her phone away, she played with her cup to avoid the gaze on her. Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, she shifted in her seat nervously. 

"Sure." He said softly, putting his hand over hers to assure her. Delilah looked up and locked eyes with the beautiful boy, unable to fight off a smile. She relaxed and looked back up. Something just... Drew her to the term.

"Transgender is where you are born one sex but want to switch to the opposite gender. Some people find out at an early age, while it may take other their entire life to figure it out. Most have a condition called 'dysphoria'. It's a bout of deep negative feelings and depression towards ones self over their body. Usually, this gets better as they do things to help them look or feel like the other gender. Whether that's tucking, binding, or even getting surgery, it may help. Some people don't have this though, and can accept their body as-is. It's okay to have both. But the one thing they all have in common is that they feel born in the wrong body. They feel they don't have the right parts. Many cut or grow out their hair, or start wearing the opposite gender's clothing to help them cope. Is there anything you want me to explain more?" Mush asks, blushing as he realized he never removed his hand from hers. But she wasn't paying attention. Delilah's mind was going millions of miles per hour, storing the information and interpreting it until it stopped all at once. It just... Clicked.

"I'm transgender." Delilah said, with a certainty she hadn't a clue where it came from. But it felt right. It felt like she could breathe. He could breathe. Mush grinned and leaned over the table to give him a hug. He patted his back and laughed.

"That's amazing! Congrats! I'm sure Delilah is no longer an appropriate name for you. Is there something else I could call you?" Mush asked, leaving his hand on his shoulder. He took Mush's hand and wound their fingers together. A grin took up his entire face and he tossed his hair over his shoulder.

"I want to be known as David. David Jacobs."


End file.
